Pogba appeared to fire a barb at his critics with a social media post on Monday.

"Work in the shadow let people make noise," Pogba wrote on Twitter.

And Benjamin Pavard, whose performance against Australia could put his France place at risk for the rest of the World Cup with right-back Djibril Sidibe building his fitness, backed Matuidi in offering support to Pogba.

"He is a very great player," Pavard said. "He is a true leader. He is very important for the group.

"Paul always has nice words, he has a lot of experience at the highest level."